Manchester City’s new signings give Hugo Viana food for thought after Club World Cup | OneFootball

The Manchester City first-team squad have at last been given some time off to rest and recover after being in the trenches for the best part of a full year.

City came up just short in their FIFA Club World Cup Round of 16 tie against Al-Hilal this week, crashing out at the hands of the Saudi Arabian club owing to a 4-3 defeat in extra-time that has left a sour taste after an encouraging few weeks in the United States.

Context is necessary, though. It needs no reminding that this is a Manchester City squad who have not had a chance to take their foot off the gas and get a proper break from competitive football since August 2024.

Pep Guardiola’s men now have just over three weeks off to recharge before the squad have to report back for pre-season on July 28 – 18 days before the 2025-26 Premier League campaign kicks off away at Wolves.

Guardiola has had the long-desired luxury of having a rich array of players to cherry pick from at the Club World Cup, naming two entirely different starting XI’s in Manchester City’s opening group-stage wins over Wydad AC and Al Ain.

City have addressed their long-standing left back issues with the signing of Rayan Ait-Nouri from Wolves. The Blues have also added Tijjani Reijnders and Rayan Cherki to their midfield roster after deciding against offering Kevin De Bruyne a new deal.

Marcus Bettinelli has replaced Scott Carson as third-choice goalkeeper and there is still an expectation that a new right-back will be signed before the transfer window shuts in September, with Kyle Walker set to leave the club this summer.

Hugo Viana has wasted no time to kickstarting a new era at the Etihad Stadium and the moves City have made in the transfer market mean the newly-appointed director of football is not messing around after replacing Txiki Begiristain.

Contract talks are set to follow with first-team stars whose future(s) are in doubt as Manchester City look to trim their squad and cut their wage bill before the new season begins. Jack Grealish and Kalvin Phillips have been allowed to find new clubs after being excluded from the Club World Cup squad, as with Walker.

John Stones is entering the last year of his current deal and though the England international wants to stay, his injury record is concerning and there’s a good chance he is the next of Guardiola’s ageing stars to be shown the door as part of the Viana revamp.

The Club World Cup has offered a peak through the curtain into what can be expected from Manchester City next term as they bid to return stronger than ever and bounce back to mount a challenge for all major honours.

Frailties in defence, a serious lack of legs in midfield and a glaring absence of creativity in the absence of Kevin De Bruyne and amidst Phil Foden’s struggles saw the Blues record their lowest points tally (71) in a Premier League campaign under Guardiola last term.

Following the £82 million sale of Julian Alvarez to Atletico Madrid, Erling Haaland were burdened with an overwhelming majority of the goalscoring responsibility and the 24-year-old Norwegian – despite amassing 34 goals and five assists in 48 appearances in all competitions – also succumbed to an ankle injury in the second half of the campaign.

The arrival of Omar Marmoush in January, especially given how quickly the Egyptian has gotten accustomed to life under Guardiola, provides hope of that burden easing on Haaland – and the goals once again being shared across the frontline.

Savinho and Jeremy Doku have also shown signs of finding their feet in front of goal in the United States, with the latter in particular failing to find the net as much as he’d have liked given the trust shown by Guardiola in the young Brazilian in his first season in Manchester.

The change in fortunes of several Manchester City stars presents a dilemma for Viana, who has been tasked with giving Guardiola a winning squad for the seasons to come and has already taken the transfer window by the scruff of the neck.

City – who have appointed Bernardo Silva as club captain as Walker leaves – are prioritising contract renewal talks for the likes of Ruben Dias, Rodri and Rico Lewis as the summer progresses and the first-team squad is trimmed to be ready for the new season.

It remains to be seen how ruthless the board will be between now and September 1 when it comes to a clear-out, with no one too sure of their fortune as even Ilkay Gundogan awaits a decision on his future amid interest from Turkey – despite being nailed on to stay past the summer when he activated an automatic extension clause entered into his contract last term.

Mateo Kovacic is recovering from injury; Nathan Ake and Manuel Akanji have both struggled for fitness and form respectively in recent seasons so there is a decision to be made on the centre-back pair and whether they can be relied upon for an entire season.

Ederson and Stefan Ortega Moreno are expected to stay but the Manchester City of today can hugely differ from the side that will be registered for the Premier League campaign. Matheus Nunes is one of City’s most improved players in the last 12 months and many would rightly argue that he deserves to stay after proving to be a competent makeshift right-back.

Viana is known for not pulling any punches and if the remainder of City’s transfer window takes a velocity of anywhere near the magnitude of how things have unraveled so far, it will be business as usual for the board, who have already shown that they will not be bogged down by emotion – after letting the club’s best-ever player leave on a free transfer.